Just like every other professional field, certain words, phrases, and idioms have become prominent among marketers. The difference with marketing lingo, however, is that it pertains to more people than words only used by engineers, for example. Why? Because everyone is somehow connected to marketing. Every business, every brand, every nonprofit, and every event needs marketing. Even if you don’t work in marketing directly, knowing the lingo can help you better understand and connect with those who do. Plus, you may be able to impress a business executive at your next meeting (or maybe just your friends at a party). Either way, we’ve put together a list of key terms that float around our office on a regular basis. Take notes, folks. Here they are:
Affidavit of Performance – A written document given to a marketer by a broadcast company that lists what, how, and when advertisement services were provided. An invoice for running broadcast commercials, essentially.
Analytics – Measuring, managing, and analyzing marketing performance in order to perform better in the future. Analytics software is used for most digital platforms, such as Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics.
Branding – The words, symbols, and designs used to identify a product/service and differentiate it from other products/services.
Brand guide – A document that includes a company’s logo, color scheme, fonts, and other consistent design elements that define its branding.
Best Time Available (BTA) – Commercials that are scheduled by a radio station to run at the best available time after all other sponsor commitments are met. Usually, these times reach smaller audiences but are available at cheaper rates. (Leftovers, if you will).
Call to Action (CTA) – Words that persuade or urge an audience to take an immediate action. Phrases like “call now” or “click here” are CTAs.
Channel – A medium used to communicate a message. Popular media channels include television, radio, social media, etc.
Click-through-rate (CTR) – The percentage of people who actually click on an ad (as opposed to not clicking on it) upon seeing it.
Consistency – Setting brand standards and sticking to them. A consistent brand repeatedly uses the same designs, tone, messaging, etc. to make itself more recognizable.
Conversion rate – The measure of people who take a desired action. For example, the number of people who buy a product on a website compared to the number of people who visited the website.
Copy – The written content of an advertisement. Copywriters write taglines, TV scripts, and other written materials (go figure, right?)
Cost-per-click (CPC) – A digital marketing method in which advertisers pay based on the number of times visitors click on the advertisement.
Display ads – Online advertisements that appear on websites. These ads may use text, images, video, audio, etc. and can appear anywhere on the web page (banner, sidebar, etc.)
Digital media – Media content that exists through an electronic channel. Examples include social media, websites, and mobile apps.
Frequency – The number of times individual people are exposed to a message.
Impressions – The amount of times an advertisement or content is displayed for individuals to see.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI) – The measurements marketers use to determine how it meets (or doesn’t meet) objectives. KPIs might include new customers acquired, gross revenue, and metrics acquired by analytics software.
Lead – A person/group that expresses interest in your company; a potential sales contact.
Pre-roll – An online video commercial that plays before the content selected by the user. YouTube ads that play before a video would be considered pre-roll.
Project scope – The plan that defines the goals, tasks, and deadlines of a marketing project.
Project creep – Changes in a project scope. Generally, this is not desirable, as goals become larger and more continuous.
Retargeting/remarketing – Display ads for a website that the user has already visited. For example, you visit TransformationMarketing.com and then later on see an ad for Transformation Marketing on another website.
Return on Investment (ROI) – The amount of money spent on marketing compared to the amount of money earned because of the marketing.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) – Techniques used to increase the number of visitors to a website by obtaining a high ranking in the search results of a search engine. SEO is used to make Transformation Marketing appear first when someone searches Google for “marketing firms in Lincoln, Nebraska.
Spot – Advertising space on traditional media like television and radio. These are typically measured in time (30-second spot, 60-second spot, etc.)
Strategy – The plans and processes used to increase sales, sustain a competitive advantage, and meet other objectives and goals.
Target market – A specific group of consumers at which a company aims to sell to. Target markets are defined by demographics and lifestyle traits.
Treatment – A written document that summarizes a video piece. In marketing, treatments are used in the production processes for TV commercials, online video, etc.
Feel like you’re ready to work in Don Draper’s office yet? To us, “marketing” is its own language, and we think those who aren’t advertising-obsessed should still be familiar with the basics. Are you or someone you know interested in becoming more familiar with marketing language and process? Click here to learn about internships and careers at Transformation!